


Google

by koffkoffstyles (blametheone)



Series: Stucky One Shots [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, No Relationship(s), Queer Steve Rogers, Steve using Google, supportive tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-07-23 18:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7474653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blametheone/pseuds/koffkoffstyles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony chuckled into his hands.</p><p>“Tell me what Grandpa’s looking up,” he grinned. “I could use some entertainment.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Google

**Author's Note:**

> hi. i literally hate this so much, there's a reason i didn't put it up before 'bigger' but i don't have anything else ready to put up and 'BIGGER' REACHED 100 KUDOS so i had to celebrate, obviously. enjoy...

 

“What’s everyone doing tonight, Jarvis?” Tony sighed, rubbing at his eyes. If everyone was going to live in his tower, he had the right to know what they were doing, right? It wasn’t just bored curiosity to procrastinate actually working on his dead end experiment. Not at all.

_“Miss Romanov is making supper with Doctor Banner, Thor is sleeping, Captain Rogers is on Google and Clint appears to be on the telephone with his wife.”_

Tony chuckled into his hands.

“Tell me what Grandpa’s looking up,” he grinned. “I could use some entertainment.”

_“Sir-”_

“Come on, Jarvis, please?”

If AI’s could sigh with disappointment, Jarvis was probably a master at it.

The screen in front of him opened a new window the displayed a replica of whatever Steve had on his own screen. Tony only took a second to realise what was wrong with this picture — and he was expecting porn but not this.

The search was “men with men” and the results were a series of advertisements for or articles about ‘straight men having sex with other men’. Steve had only scrolled down a bit before going back up to the search bar.

“Holy shit,” Tony cursed aloud, realising that Steve had not really even been exposed to any of the socio-political advances over the past seventy years. He didn’t really have much time to look things like that up anyway (it was difficult to look things up when you didn’t know they existed in the first place) between relearning simple things, catching up on major events, learning how to use technology in the first place and, y’know, saving the world.

 

\--------------------------------------- 

 

Steve sighed, lip curling in disappointment and mild disgust as he went through the results. 

What the hell was that word doing there, it kept reappearing, ‘gay’ (well, and ‘straight’ but) he knew the world. It was used for sexual deviancy and being promiscuous, but not often. It was used more often as just ‘happy’. But it kept popping up now as a binary to straight, and as an adjective, and it was so specific to this search, and so many words had evolved and changed. Like plasticity. It was elasticity, now, what the hell?

He typed it in, “gay,” in the search bar and hit the little blue button with the magnifying glass.

And that cleared up a lot. This was a  _thing_  what he felt was actually a  _recognised thing_  and then just as he was getting caught up in the excitement of a possible underground society of other people like him, he saw it.

_Homosexuality was made legal in the UK in the 60’s under the Sexual Offences Act 1967_

Steve felt his breath caught in his throat. That was completely illegal in the 40’s.

And more importantly, he needed to know when or if, better, if the U.S. had followed suit.

 

\---------------------------------------

 

“Is homosexuality legal in the US?” Tony read out loud, eyebrows drawing. “What’s he looking that up for...?”

 _“Curiosity, perhaps?”_  Jarvis supplied. 

Tony shook his head.

“I don’t know... It just feels-”

It felt too personal and while usually Tony was more than happy to jump into people’s personal lives, he knew where the line was most of the time. He chose whether to cross it or not and now seemed like a good chance to remain exactly where he was on the safe side of the line.

Because why the hell would Steve be looking this up if he wasn’t prompted by something?

 

\---------------------------------------

 

Steve’s chest jumped as he read it, all states not only made it legal to  _be queer_  it was legal to  _marry_ , he was  _legal to be married_.

He remembered, remembered the sneaking around behind closed doors and the constant fear that someone would find out. He remembered burning his drawings, all those painstaking hours put into sketches reduced to ash when the war broke out and it was too risky. Fear that people would rifle through his stuff, and he’d be helpless to stop it. He couldn’t risk leaving those drawings around, not with the faces so clear, like a profile of which deviant they’d have to look for next – but the knowledge of why it had to be done didn’t take away the pain of watching his work burn.

And now everything had changed. Being like this wasn’t just legal, it was glorified. It was encouraged, there was a pride day and there was awareness about a whole plethora of sexualities and identities, and there were so many that Steve’s brain hurt and he wished-

He wished a lot of things, but this was one of those dream come true moments. It felt too good to be true, it couldn’t be true, maybe he had gotten it wrong….

 

\---------------------------------------

 

“Maybe I should talk to him, before he finds porn or something-” Tony stood, turning to leave when Jarvis caught his attention.

“ _Sir, he’s just searched a new request, perhaps you shouldn’t barge in.”_

“Why?” Tony rolled his eyes. “Is it actually porn, that’s what he was looking for?

“ _No_ ,” was the simple reply, and Tony looked up.

**I think I’m gay**

_“I think this is a tad too personal, sir,”_ Jarvis said, soft as always.

 

\--------------------------------------- 

 

_Knock, knock._

“Steve?”

Steve frowned as Tony’s voice came through the door. He locked the phone and tossed it aside, standing off his bed to open the door. Which he did, letting Tony in though he only wandered in a few steps.

“Yes, Tony?” he promoted when the other man was unusually quiet. Tony chuckled like he’d just seen him.

“Hey, you’re... just... you’re alright, right?” Tony stumbled, hands gesturing around and clearing his throat.  _Okay_.

“Stark, I’m fine,” Steve chuckled. Tony looked hesitant, like he was torn between staying and going, or like he had no clue what to say.

“I, um-” he coughed. “Yeah, just, yeah. Good talk.”

Steve chuckled, pulling a face of confusion but moreover just laughing at how ridiculous Tony was being.

“Is there anything you wanted?”

Tony hesitated again, blinking back at him with a tense jaw for a couple moments before opening his arms and pulling Steve into them. Steve startled for a moment, but decided to let Tony do whatever he needed to do, even if he wouldn’t voice what that was or why he needed it.

Truth be told, Steve didn’t realise until he was engulfed in the other man’s arms, but he needed a hug right now too. Maybe it was the closeness of a friend, he could pass it off as support, but it felt like perfect timing. Amongst all of the rejoice about legalities and how much this world as changed, it he didn’t miss the hate pages that popped up every second result, and Tony was a friend and right now, in his arms, Steve could pretend that Tony would be supportive of him, and would be there for him. Maybe.

They pulled back then, Tony clapping a hand on the blonde’s back. Steve nodded, Tony nodded, and they moved turned to walk back to their separate rooms or beds.

“Hey,” Tony called out just before he left, voice confident and cocky as ever again, back to his usual self. “You know, Jarvis can see what everyone in the building is doing, and can see what the Internet it being used for.”

Steve froze, facing away from him, cold and rigid.

“I’m just saying, I mean, if you want you can bypass the search engine all together and talk to one of us, or me, because I’ll see it anyway,” he joked. “None of us- just, we’re like. You’re good, Steve. We’re your friends.”

Steve still hadn’t turned around, body trembling a little but Tony wasn’t going to potentially damage Steve’s surprisingly fragile ego by acknowledging it.

“Alright, goodnight, Grandpa, get some rest,” he bid, leaving the doorway.

 

\---------------------------------------

 

Steve climbed into his bed with his heart pumping at a million miles an hour, reaching for his second pillow and cuddling around it like a source of comfort, something to stop the shaking.

His face was hurting from how wide he was smiling and he felt like if he really tried he could probably cry from how elated he was.

The shaking was because someone knew and that freaked him the hell out because he was in no way ready for anyone to know that about him, he hadn’t even come to terms with it himself. 

But it was okay, Tony knew and it was okay.

And Steve thinks he might just be starting to like the twenty first century a lot better than the forties.

**Author's Note:**

> [DISCLAIMER: i dont own google, or marvel or any of it's characters, or the 1967 act cited here.]
> 
> twitter: koffkoffstyles  
> tumblr: softer-side-of-unbearable
> 
> love you all, please leave kudos to help my potatoes grow. xx


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